Brewer cancels annual meeting of border governors

by Ginger Rough - Jul. 7, 2010 05:51 PMThe Arizona Republic

Gov. Jan Brewer has cancelled a long-standing annual conference between the governors of U.S. border states and their counterparts in Mexico, saying the move was unavoidable after the Mexican governors refused to attend because of Arizona's tough new immigration law.

Brewer, who signed Senate Bill 1070 into law on April 23 and has since become a national face of the anti-illegal immigration movement, sent a letter on June 30 to the Mexican governors, notifying them of her position.

"I am disappointed in your decision," said Brewer, who was to have served as chairwoman of the 28th annual Border Governor's Conference. "I sincerely believe the gathering of the governors in Arizona would have presented a great platform to initiate dialogue about the legislation and other topics of great importance to the region."

The conference includes 10 governors total, including those from Arizona, New Mexico, California and Texas, as well as the Mexican states of Baja, Chihuahua, Sonora and Nuevo Leon, among others. The conference location rotates location depending on the year.

Officials on both side of the border use the meeting as an opportunity to discuss "strategic" matters affecting both regions, including security, sustainability and quality of life issues.

The Mexican governors have been expressing their reservations and opposition to the new law since Brewer signed it into law. "(Senate Bill) 1070 is discriminative, racist and violates the International Civil Rights Agreement established in 1976…" Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza of the State of Chihuahua said in a letter dated April 29, and translated by the governor's Arizona-Mexico Commission. "This law establishes a negative precedent and goes against the Border Governors Conference efforts to consolidate a secure and prosperous border region."

The Mexican governors jointly sent a letter to Brewer on June 18, notifying her that they had passed a resolution to boycott the meeting, which was scheduled to be held in Phoenix in September.

On Wednesday, Brewer's spokesman Paul Senseman reiterated that the governor felt she had no choice to scuttle the meeting since the Mexican governors already had expressed their unwillingness to attend.

"From Gov. Brewer's perspective, this decision was made by the Mexican governors," said Senseman, who added that the governor had also invited all the participants to Arizona to meet with her and law enforcement officials about SB 1070 and their concerns.
He said that invitation still stands.

Two of Brewer's U.S. counterparts, meanwhile, are hoping to salvage the conference by holding it at another location outside of Arizona. Brewer's decision to cancel the meeting drew sharp recriminations from Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, the lone Democrat among the leaders of the four U.S. states.

"Governor Brewer doesn't have the authority to cancel the … conference," Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Richardson said in an e-mail to The Republic. "She may not want to host it for political reasons, but that's not a reason to sidestep the tough issues that border governors must address, including migration and border violence."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger confirmed that his boss also was interested in finding an alternative site for the conference, and he had private conversations with Richardson about pursuing that option.

Should a site be located, Brewer would be welcome to attend, Schwarzenegger's office said.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger supports finding a site where all 10 governors can attend and can continue their discussions," spokesman Francisco Castillo said. "He believes these conferences are very valuable."

The push to restore the long-standing meeting comes one day after the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against Arizona over the new immigration law, which is slated to go into effect July 29. The law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, has led to boycotts of the state and its businesses and drawn sharp criticism from political leaders, activists and the media, though polling has suggested that the majority of Americans support it.

The measure states that an officer engaged in a lawful stop, detention or arrest, shall, when practicable, ask about a person's legal status when reasonable suspicion exists that that person is not legally in the U.S.

It was not clear Wednesday whether Brewer would be willing attend a rescheduled meeting if it were held at a site outside Arizona, because it would be tantamount to participating in a boycott of her own state, Senseman said.

As of today, the Governor's Office has not been notified of any specific plans for a rescheduled conference, he added.